Glen Ridge girls lacrosse will graduate six seniors from this year's squad, which went from 1-7 early this season to winning 10 of its last 14 games and making it to the North Finals. Pictured from left are Kendall Smith, Francesca Cali, Paige Moriarty, Jenna Mulrenan, Caroline Smith and Galen O'Neil.Below, Glen Ridge's Galen Lew scored three goals in the 15-13 loss to Mountain Lakes High School in the North, Group 1 Finals.

The Glen Ridge girls lacrosse team's 2014 NJSIAA State Tournament run came to an end earlier this week when Ridgers faced a very familiar foe, Mountain Lakes High School, in the North Group 1 Final on May 28.

Glen Ridge lost, 15-13, to drop out of the states. This was only the team's second lost in the last 11 contests of the season. The Ridgers started out at a worrisome 1-7, only to rally all the way to the North Group 1 Championship game, despite falling short.

With the win, Mountain Lakes moves on to the Group 1 Championship game against the South's sectional winner - Oak Knoll High School. The Ridgers end its season with an 11-11 overall record.

The Lakers owned an 11-8 halftime lead and was able to hold the Ridgers to five goals in the second half, while scoring four more themselves, to win 15-13. Despite trailing for much of the game, the Ridgers were within two scores with minutes remaining.

"There was 2:10 left and the score was 15-13," said Glen Ridge girls varsity head coach Beth Larkin. "We had a couple opportunities to go on the attacking end. But there were a couple turnovers and a couple of very weird calls on the ref to turn the ball over."

Just like this season, the game started out shaky for the Ridgers. The Lakers were up 5-0 after the first few minutes to steal the early momentum. Earlier this season, the Ridgers stumbled out of the gate, going 1-7. The team rallied to win 10 of its last 13 games to end up with a .500 record in 2014. The girls also had a hole to dig themselves out of early on against Mountain Lakes.

"We caught up and then it was back and forth," said Larkin. "It was a very exciting and the girls, they really never gave up. A couple lucky breaks our way, and the turnout would have been different. They had Mountain Lakes on its heels. One more minute and we would have tied that game up, I think. But Mountain Lakes came out strong and played a great game against us."

Glen Ridge also had a five-goal performance from Tess Howland. Holly Lloyd scored three goals and passed for three assists.

Also scoring for Glen Ridge were Galen Lew, Colleen Grady and Kendall Smith. Lew scored three goals while Grady and Smith each had one.

"The Lakers did a good job of face-guarding Kendal (Smith), and even Paige (Moriarty)," said Larkin. "What was great about that game was that the other players stepped up. Even though our top scorers didn't do very well, our team scored. And a lot of those players will be returning next year. I was very proud of the way the team fought all the way to the end."

Senior Kendall Smith finished the season with a team-leading 121 total points, including 93 goals and 28 assists. Smith climbed up to third on the All-time Glen Ridge scoring list, with 293 points.

"She's third and that comes with an asterisk," said coach Larkin. "She's played against the toughest competition in the state. Her 293 career points came much harder, than other players' because in these last four years we've played in a very tough division (Super Essex Conference American Division).

"I'm very proud of everything she's done the past four years. She never let go and never let up on this team. She never gave up and performed at a high level the entire season."

Senior Paige Moriarty also developed an important part of her game through the 2014 season. Known as the team's 'finisher' in years past, Moriarty was able to increase her assist total to 49 on the season - second most on the team - while scoring 55 goals.

She really developed her feeding game, getting 49 assists on the season," said Larkin. "It was nice to see that, someone who was a finisher expand her game as a senior, which let her grow into another player. Losing those two is going to be a rough for us. But we certainly have a lot of young talent."

Sophomore Holly Lloyd will lead a group of 15 non-seniors that will return next year to try to get back to that Group Final. Lloyd scored 59 goals and 58 assists for 117 points - second on the team.

Nicki Eckert established her role as the starting goalie in the middle of the season and will return as a junior next year.

"Once she got that position, we went from allowing 10 points to 7.22 point per game," said Larkin. "And that was within four weeks. She really did a great job and she built the confidence of the defense. Jenna Mulrennan really stepped up in the back for us."